South Korean soldiers work security during a Freedom Shield drill at Goyang Training Center in Dongducheon, South Korea, March 13, 2025. (Jameson Harris/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The United States and South Korea are deepening their “future-oriented” strategic alliance, senior officials said this week, even as Seoul works to reclaim wartime control of its military from Washington.
Speaking Monday before lawmakers during a parliamentary hearing in the capital, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the two countries have formed “deepened trust” since Presidents Donald Trump and Lee Jae Myung held their first summit last month in the U.S. capital.
Lee urged Trump to be proactive in building ties with North Korea and later pledged to raise Seoul’s annual defense spending by more than 8%.
“South Korea and the U.S. promised to closely cooperate to peacefully solve the problems on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho said at the hearing. “South Korea expressed its strong determination to pursue the modernization of a reciprocal, future-oriented alliance, in response to the changing environment.”
The U.S. “welcomed the proposal, reaffirmed its firm defense commitment and agreed to further strengthen the extended deterrence between the two countries,” he added.
Cho’s remarks came a month after the presidential office in Seoul pledged to reclaim wartime operational control of its forces within five years.
The U.S. has held operational authority over South Korea’s military since the Korean War. Seoul may assume that authority once it demonstrates agreed-upon military capabilities, which are not publicly disclosed.
The Combined Forces Command, headquartered at Camp Humphreys about 40 miles south of Seoul, now heads South Korea’s military during wartime. The command is led by a U.S. four-star general with a South Korean general serving as deputy.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back echoed Cho’s comments during Monday’s hearing and said he disagreed with the notion that U.S. Forces Korea’s deterrence extends beyond North Korea to China.
USFK is responsible for about 28,500 American troops stationed on the peninsula. Its official mission is to defend South Korea from attack, though its presence is also viewed as a regional counterbalance to China, one of Pyongyang’s closest allies.
Beijing has long opposed the 2017 deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, anti-ballistic missile battery in South Korea, calling it a regional threat.
Meanwhile, North Korea on Friday showcased its military arsenal, including the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile — theoretically capable of reaching the continental U.S. — during a parade marking the 80th anniversary of the ruling party’s founding in Pyongyang.
